Minnesota Local History Workshops

Greater Minnesota local history Wikipedia - edit-a-thons

Do you want to publish and promote your community’s history? Do you want your history organization to be an authoritative source of historical information? Then learn how to edit and add content to Wikipedia!

Minnesota Historical Society’s Local History Services is offering eight free public workshops around the state this summer and fall where you can come and learn more about how Wikipedia works and then give you an opportunity to add your community’s history on Wikipedia articles. Complete beginners are welcome; training and troubleshooting is provided.

The goal is to create, add to, and update Greater Minnesota’s local histories on Wikipedia, particularly where information gaps currently exist. This will expand and make accessible to the public information about Minnesota's history. Greater Minnesota's local history organizations have a wealth of knowledge about their communities. Share this information with the rest of the world by developing articles on Wikipedia -- they need your help!

The workshop will be led by Joe Hoover, Digital Technology Outreach Specialist for the Minnesota Historical Society and an editor on Wikipedia for over Fifteen years. Hoover will guide everyone through the process, and demonstrate how easy it is to edit and share information.

Attendees are asked to register beforehand and to bring any books, journals, magazines or newspaper articles relevant to pages they're interested in to use for sources for research. Laptops will be provided by MNHS. However, attendees are encouraged to bring their own laptop if they have one.

Fee: Cost is Free. Lunch provided. Registration required.
Questions? Email Joe Hoover at joe.hoover@mnhs.org.

Agenda

  • Introductions and overview: 15 minutes
  • Training: 45 minutes
  • Breakout 1 editing session: 60 minutes
  • Check-in and break: 15 minutes
  • Breakout 2 editing session: 2½ hours
  • Closing reflections: 15 minutes

Dates and locations: